Washington Artillery gearing up for Iraq tour

Call it a thunderous, window-rattling return to Jackson Barracks for the Washington Artillery.

In the first military ceremony at the historic installation on the Orleans-St. Bernard parish line since Hurricane Katrina flooding destroyed it more than four years ago, the Lousiana Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 141st Field Artillery Regiment conducted its 171st pass-in-review on its home turf Sunday, in an event punctuated by soldiers and military re-enactors firing blanks from their 105 mm howitzers and spoke-wheel relic cannons.

And for the battalion itself, Sunday also marked its first annual pass-in-review at Jackson Barracks since 2003. The battalion was in Iraq for much of 2004 and 2005, and then Katrina shut the Barracks down, forcing the unit to conduct the ceremonies at Lafreniere Park in Metairie.

"It’s been a long time," said the battalion’s executive officer, Maj. Steven Finney of Metairie. "Jackson Barracks holds a special place. The state has provided us with a wonderful facility."

Sunday’s pass-in-review, in which commanders ceremonially inspect their troops, was to be held on the Barracks’ parade field. But with the ground saturated from Saturday’s heavy rainfall and the threat of more rain, a scaled-down event was held inside the battalion’s drill hall, where families and soldiers gathered afterwards to watch the Saints-Falcons game and eat grilled steaks provided free by the All American Beef Battalion, a Kansas-based private group that raises money to travel the nation feeding troops.

"Coming back to the Barracks is terrific," said retired Sgt. Maj. Norvin Schxnaildre, 74, of Metairie, a member of the Washington Artillery Veterans Association who served in the battalion for 14 of his 26 1/2 years in the Louisiana National Guard. "They did a wonderful job bringing the Barracks back, better than it was before."

Sunday’s event also was bittersweet. Next month, the battalion’s 350 New Orleans-area soldiers will mobilize for training for a second year-long tour in Iraq.

The oldest militia in the state and the oldest artillery outfit in the nation outside the original 13 colonies, the Washington Arillery, a unit in the Guard’s 256th Brigade Combat Team, temporarily worked out of Algiers and NASA’s Michoud facility in eastern New Orleans while Jackson Barracks was being rebuilt. It began moving back to the Barracks in late September, ahead of most Guard units slated to return.

"We think it was very critical," adjutant Maj. Gen. Bennett Landreneau said of moving the battalion back before it deploys to Iraq.

Soldiers’ morale was the key, he said. When the battalion returned from Iraq last time, in the weeks following Katrina’s landfall, many of its soldiers were pressed into post-storm recovery missions, including duty supporting the New Orleans Police Department in patrolling much of the beleaguered city.

"These are phenominal soldiers," Landreneau said. "Many of them lost their homes. Their families were displaced. Some lost their businesses."

The battalion is scheduled to ceremonially depart from the Barracks again in Jan. 9, first to Camp Shelby, Miss., for predeployment training, and then Iraq. About 3,000 Louisiana Army National Guard troops are deploying.

"We’ve had a long year of training," Finney said. "We have more training to go. The soldiers are ready to go."